Leandro glided out of the exercise room, his neck draped with a towel the end of which he dabbed at his forehead. The two weeks since the Gryps observation mission had been hectic for team leaders, what with supplies and parts moving around and the Kirov team reorganization. Leandro had to deal with the paperwork related to these (which included Grace Kelborn’s move to the newly-formed Iota Team), only to have it followed up by work on Delta Team’s Barzam X-3 units. The tech teams had worked around the clock to deal with the source of the malfunctions Leandro’s Extra had suffered during the last engagement. Such problems weren’t unusual for prototype equipment.

He flipped through the most recent diagnostic reports on a handheld screen as he slid down the corridor. Out of newly-developed habit, he reached for his new sunglasses to be reminded by the touch of his undershirt that he’d left both the shades and his tunic in his quarters. He shrugged and focused again on the report. They’d need to run a few more systems tests, but the tech teams were sure they’d worked out the electrical bugs in the Extras.

Delta Team’s leader grinned at the good news, unaware that his gripper was taking him headlong into Drossel and Hepburn’s path.

* * *

- Salamis Kai-class Herakles -- Captain’s Quarters -

Isaac Berg, jr., had been spending much of his time furiously writing sheet after sheet since learning that Bask Om had been assassinated. Coming so soon on the heels of Jamitov’s death at the hands of Haman Karn, it had dealt a crushing blow to old-guard Titans.

The Herakles’s skipper sighed as he folded his most recently completed sheet and slid it into his desk before taking a sip of scotch. He’d never been much of a scotch man, but the bottle had been a gift from an old colleague who may or may not have been alive anymore. That, and it was the only drink Berg had immediately available.

After only a moment’s musing, Berg buzzed an orderly over the intercom. “Fevzi, bring Alex Weber to my quarters.”

Reaching his room, Jason noticed Grace standing by his door. At first he was glad to see a loving face, then the feeling turned into worry about her getting involved this deeply but it did concern her and she might even have some insight on what Hepburn has to say.

Besides, I haven't seen her in awhile and what the hell is Arron doing here??

"Arron?" he asked quite puzzled by his appearance then looking at Grace with a 'what's going on' type of look. Peering over the two he also noticed Leandro wandering down the hall. "This is about to get complicated."

"Do you know where he is?" Jason asked clearly nervous about something. "No.." she started a bit hesitantly but then, Grace saw Jason start to come down the corridor and her face lit up. She pushed off to drift towards him, only for her expression to fall when she saw he was being followed by Hepburn. It had been made clear from what had been whispered on the ship that this man was likely in league with one of the factions involved in that friendly fire incident. Jason gave her a a funny look in regards to Aaron as she approached and she just shook her head back and forth imperceptibly and gave a little shrug. "What's going on here?" She asked in a whisper when she reached him, clearly more confused rather than frightened.

_________________IAN: (Shaking fist up at sky in a storm of GN particles) Science does not WORK this way, Setsuna!!!

..lets just hear him out without giving away our plan to escape, he thought hoping Grace would also pick up the same idea.

"What's going on here?"

Jason wanted more than anything to hold Grace in his arms but with the company around them it was best to stay cool.

"Hepburn has an opinion about the federation," he hints at Grace without giving away too much with Arron nearby. Motioning his left hand down so only Grace can see, he hopes she would understand the situation they're in.

- Alexandria-class Kirov -- Hanger -

Kyle stands with his arms folded overlooking the maintenance on his Barzam. All the major work had been done but he had a few suggestions to the tech crew to improve the lapse of control when using the radome. It had been a major weakness he noticed during the last battle. Also the Minovsky interference with the beam itself was another hindrance that should be improved.

"If we can improve these problems we could keep their ships at bay keeping the pressure off our own at least."

Alpha leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. He'd been staring at the computer on his desk for more than an hour, going over scores from the simulators. He'd been unhappy to have the Kalinin lose it's Marasais, save for his own, but he couldn't argue much. Craig, Hicks, and Sunoue had been flat out bad in the Marasai, but Runnels had been fine in the -108, but they wanted to fully convert one of the other Echo ships to it. Bate was allowed to keep his Marasai, but the rest had to go back to the Hizack.

For Runnels, it had been nothing, she'd relearned the machine in a day. But for the other three, it only served to show how bad they were. Craig was badly inconsistant, occasionally showing a flash of skill, only to nearly crash moments later. Hicks continued to be scared out of mind, overly nervious and afraid to act. Sunoue was somewhere in between, clearly unsure of himself in space and not that skilled in basic actions. Bate had been pushing for as many real flights as he could, but Nguyen wasn't interested in that, and Kirov wouldn't allow too many training flights, apparently worried about somehow repeating the incident that occured near Gryps 2.

As if I'm as stupid as the Kirov idiots... Bate thought. They had been dumb enough to charge into the middle of a combat zone basically against orders that actually made sense, and then start shooting at each other for whatever insane reasons they had...

"Damn it..." Bate muttered and leaned foward in his chair, coming face to face with some awful accuracy scores from Sunoue's latest run in the simulator. Bate was utterly sick of whatever the hell the Kirov's pilots were doing, but it was an almost unavoidable subject. The entire Kalinin crew was still talking about it. It annoyed, and worried, Bate for seemingly a new reason every time the issue crossed his mind, which ended up being several times a day.

But there was little he could do about those issues, and Bate was resigned to that. One thing he could work on was trying to get his pilots a bit more competent, so they might survive a hair longer in a real battle. Alpha closed the file and stood, checking his uniform quickly in a small mirror he had on the door. If he had to see Nguyen on the bridge, he might as well make sure the Captain of the Kalinin didn't take offense to some minor imperfection in his uniform...

"Now now Marco don't be like that. Our Herakles poster boy here brings up some very good points you know. I won't be as naive to say everything will be nice and simple as to surrender and we'll get off scot-free, the Titans as an organization have quite a bit to answer for" he pointed out "Rumored or otherwise"

Alex paused to take another bite of his sandwich and wash it down with another drink "Not that I think the Federation government would be so extreme as Orsino here claims. We Titans have some pretty nice stuff here ya know"

"And I wouldn't bet on the AEUG not firing that Colony Laser at us Marco. I heard they fired it off at Axis to push it away from the moon before it could hit.......whichever city it was. Reputation or not, there's a reason they say be careful when dealing with a corned animal"

Marco finished eating in time to see Fevzhi come in. "Heads up Alex, looks like the captain's errand boy is here for you again." He got up. "Criss, get back to practice." She had been running sims vigorously since the last battle. He turned to look at Orsino. "You can go work on your suit. I'll be looking it over to see that it all works out. Also, I'll be checking with the techs on your behavior. This isn't R&R time for you."

Orsino snickered as he got up and drifted off to the Hanger. Criss shoved off and headed back to the simulator. As Marco got up, he passed Fevzhi. "The intel I asked for..."

"I put it in your quarters, sir." Marco saluted the recruit and went there. He had been looking for this document for some time now...

- Pilot Quarters -

As Marco steeped in his quarters, he noticed the purple folder lying on his desk. He picked it up. Orsino's personnel file. Maybe this should have something I can use on that nut... He began to read.

- Hangar -

Orsino calmly slipped into the hangar, and floated over to his suit. Without any visible emotion, he began to look it over on the outside, making sure there were no dents or scratches.

For the love of god, when will you people learn? Just because someone has a high body count and a weird personality does not mean that they're a Newtype. In the brief time he spent at my lab, Gerwulf managed to disturb most of the actual Newtypes before spectacularly failing every single test we administrated. He is 100% oldtype.

Now, you sent him to me on the premises that me manages to be effective in spite of his borderline-suicidal behaviors in the field. However, I would argue that it is BECAUSE of this behavior he is so effective. If Gerwulf can make a newtype uneasy just by being in the same room as him, I would imagine he would be flat out terrifying straight out charging the enemy in his berserker fashion. And while yes, he did initially wipe the floor with some of our best in combat tests, the moment they ceased to be afraid of him, he went down very easily.

Orsino turned to see the symbol he had put on his shoulder. It had taken some repainting, but it still looked quite nice. Now there was no way the rookie could miss him.

As per the recent incident, I conducted a few interviews and examinations of Ensign Gerwulf. I was asked out of fear that he might be a hazard to friendly forces in the field. I will begin by saying that I doubt he would be.

Throughout the interviews, Orsino was consistently calm. He never seemed to show any strong emotions. He also answered every question I asked very politely, without hesitation. The interesting part is when I talked to him about his past. Orsino claimed he was frequently abused as a child at home and bullied at school. Both of these cases are obvious lies, as made true by his tone of voice. While even the toughest abused children recall the incidents with fear and dread, Gerwulf described the beatings lavishly and with a sense of near-apathy.

He checked the armaments. While he certainly had been chewed out over losing the machine gun, a replacement had been administered. He beam saber was still in place as well.

To be sure, I called his brother Lupus, who is currently enrolled in college. Lupus told me that there was no abuse or bullying in Orsino's past. In addition, he noted that as a child, Orsino was a pathological liar and very poorly behaved. He would frequently misbehave, then blame others for his actions. Also, he grew to be increasingly egocentric, albeit he grew to hide it over the years.

This has led me to conclude that Orsino is a clinical psychopath. He has no empathy or concern for anyone other than himself. He does show both sadistic and masochistic tendencies, with a slight air of narcissism. While it appears psychopathy is no longer a legitimate reason for dismissal, I would still recommend transferring him off of Konpeitoh Island, possibly to somewhere like Pezun.

Orsino kept going over the internal specifications. He was considering some mild modifications, like removing some of the stabilizers on the reactor. His suit could probably get a slight bit faster that way, and he had heard it was fairly common among pilots. Plus, if he went down in melee, the big boom could probably take the other sucker with him...

*Transfer this nut to Pezun. He just got in another fight, and Doctor M's report seems spot on. I don't need this lunatic starting trouble at the upcoming Naval Review.-A.S

*Keep Orsino as far away from the Delaz fleet as possible. While I'm sure he could do a good deal of damage, I can't guarantee he won't decide to just let them do whatever it is they're planning just so he can fight another war.-M.M

He shook his head. If he got tagged just once by a gun, it would be bang and goodbye. He would just look like an idiot then. He was smarter than that.

- Pilot Quarters -

Marco sighed as he put down the file. The most he could make out of this was that Orsino was more of an animal than a human. Still, that made things a bit more simple. Orsino needed to hurt or be hurt. And if he couldn't have either...

Leandro absentmindedly looked up from his data pad and saw, just a short distance down the corridor, a group of officers. Mobile suit pilots. He recognized Grace Kelborn immediately, though Jason Drossel and Aaron Faraday were also there. On top of that, Jason was accompanied by a guy from Gamma Team whose name Leandro couldn’t place. Somethingsomething Hepburn. Gamma Team gave him the creeps anyway, and its leader especially so, for as long as Leandro had been part of TF Echo.

Leandro tucked the data pad into a back pocket and gestured to the others in greeting. “Guys, what’s going on,” he said genially enough.

- Pilot’s Lounge -

The ladies made their way out of the room on Pan’s suggestion. While Dolk took the bottle, Stukov was still apparently unaffected by the quantity of liquor he’d consumed.

“Alpha Team,” he said, “Most recent operation made it clear neither of you can follow orders. You are just killers with no concern for own survival.”

- Main Bridge -

Trent pressed a thumb to the bridge of his nose until the pressure subsided, then shut off the communication screen.

“One last trip to the Jupitris, then.”

* * *

- Salamis Kai-class Herakles -- Mess Hall -

After giving Marco the personnel file, Fevzi approached the man he was sent to find. The young petty officer brought his right hand up to his slightly dark-complexioned face in a salute to the higher-ranked Alex.

"Yeah yeah" he said as he finished his own meal while the rest of the team dispersed to do whatever it was they did when they were off duty. Rising from his seat Alex gave a quick salute "Hm wonder whats up"

Following an uneventful stroll through the ship's halls Alex found himself outside Berg's quarters. Giving a few knocks to announce his presence, Alex checked to see if he was still there "You wanted to see me Captain?"

Nguyen sighed and looked up from whatever useless paperwork he was dealing with at the moment, frowning as he always did when Bate came to the bridge. "Again, Commander?"

Alpha managed to keep his face impassive as he nodded. "They need real flight time, sir."

Marshall was already back to looking at the papers in his lap. "Is it that serious, Commander?" He mumbled.

"Captain, they barely have any experiance in basic space flight."

That managed to get skeptical glance from Nguyen. "Explain." He said with a quick wave of his hand, his eyes back to the papers.

Bate managed to keep his own frown from being too obvious before speaking. "Sir, Ensign Craig's only assignment before we got him was with a Luna II defense unit, and that only for about a week. Ensign Hicks we got right out of the academy at Nijmegen, this is his first deployment in space. Ensign Sunoue bounced around a few units on Earth, but this is also his first deployment in space. They need more real flight time, and it doesn't help we wasted all that time trying to get them over to Marasais." Bate finished, getting in one last remark on that subject.

Nguyen didn't react for a few moments, which told Bate where this was going to end up. He'd explained the situation a handful of times already, but it never sunk in. "We can't do it Commander. Orders." The Captain didn't even look up, a further sign that Alpha was wasting his time.

"Understood." Bate grumbled and floated towards the communications station, "Ensign." He called to the man sitting there.

"Sir?"

"Inform the mobile suit pilots to be in the ready room in fifteen minutes."

"Yes sir." The man nodded and went to work. Bate patted the man on the shoulder and exited the bridge as fast as he could. The tech made a quick broadcast over the PA system in the ship, and once done, the bridge returned to its usual quiet state.

"Yes, come in, Alex," said Berg. He indicated the other chair in the room, done in an old-style European wood design. "Please Alex, sit down. I think, given the circumstance, we can dispense with some formalities."

The captain was speaking to Alex in a tone he usually reserved for speaking as a gentleman to those of equal rank. He was seated formally, but casually, with his right leg across his left knee as he took an empty glass from the back of his desk with one hand. "Some scotch?"

"Why don't you two hunnies, go get some beauty sleep. We got some pilot stuff to talk about," Pan said, summarily dismissing Dolk's companions. They rose from the couch, not-Grace seemingly the only one that looked remotely disappointed to be leaving, and glided towards the exit together. Not-Grace looked back and gave Dolk a small wave with a giggle as the door slid shut, and the lieutenant gladly took the hefty bottle of liquor from Pan to take a swig. Dolk wiped his mouth with the back of his wrist and sent the vodka back towards Stukov with a nod of appreciation. “Alpha Team. Most recent operation made it clear neither of you can follow orders. You are just killers with no concern for own survival,” the Russian began, not wasting any time. Dolk rested back against the couch a little more and followed up the heavy slug of vodka with another nip from his own flask, his expression not easy to read because of his dark glasses. "Ain't it fun when you know you're gonna die young? It's such fun," he answered(?) flatly, seemingly growing introspective though his speech wasn't making him any easier to read.

- Beta Team Ready Room -

Alone with his thoughts, Wolf Ritter sat in the corner of the room staring at the door. Huddled inside a greatcoat like the kind Trent wore, the only part of him that moved was his index finger tapping rhythmlessly on the slide of his pistol. Dark circles had formed under his eyes over a week ago due to a lack of sleep. He found himself unable to get any meaningful rest when he shut his eyes. The Destiny... He had to survive this childish game the Titans were playing. Let the fire consume them so he could walk out clean. He wondered how long it had been since Daren and Sven left the room. The wild swings between eerie silence and violent outbursts directed against his enemies (both real and perceived) had started to get to them, surely. There was so much to do...

- The Jupitris -- Bridge -

"It's arranged, then," Haifan said, turning away from the video screen. Friday was lurking in his usual corner, a spot that somehow always seemed to be darker than the rest of the bridge. "Good," Friday said without leaving his black hole, his voice carrying little emotion. Haifan looked to Black with a model sneer and muttered, "I don't understand why you had me contact your pet fleet instead of doing it yourself, but if Paptimus-sama thinks--". "Paptimus-sama," Black interrupted, "Wills it. I am doing this at his request,". Why did his voice suddenly sound as if it was carrying from a great distance... It seemed to almost...

Juliet

Haifan stifled a shiver and his sneer deepened into a snarl. "Stop it. Save your parlor tricks for that captain you're driving mad," he grunted. Friday emerged from the cloak of darkness that lived in his corner and shook his head, "No, captain. I need him lucid when the time is right. If he's insane I found him that way,".

"Of course Capta-,ah Isaac. Sorry kind of a habit now" he responded as he took a seat. It was quite a nice chair, he saw one like it in a museum once. When Berg offered him a drink Alex shook his head "I'll have to decline but thanks for the offer"

"So what's up? I figure you called for me for more than just a casual drink" he asked getting straight to the point.

Letting go of the gripper that had transported him from the hanger where his now fully refurbished and repaired Barzam stood Sven pushed off towards Beta Teams ready room. He moved slowly down the hallway eyeing each door as he passed; like Wolf he too openly wore a pistol. His experiences with the Black lackey with the drawl had left him mistrustful of most of the crew and especially the other pilots. He spent most his time sleeping in his room or in Beta Team’s ready room; the rest of the ship was not safe. He still showered and ate but only went at odd times and kept himself fully armed in case of danger.

Arriving at the door he looked both ways to ensure he was not being followed before entering. He was not the least bit surprised to see Wolf waiting inside. Wolf had a sick fervor about him; it was very obvious something was wrong. Still Sven wrote it off, the strain of the destiny was falling solely on Wolf’s shoulders and with his family dead and fiancé taken from him he had no one to emotionally support him. Sven and Daren would support him in any task he required but Sven could never fathom supporting him emotionally. He was not only conscious of his own distance from his own emotions but he felt sort of childish in the presence of Wolf and a child did not offer advice to an adult. Dropping his eyes before offering a salute Sven quickly moved into the ready room. He sort of wished Wolf had not been here, part of him felt guilt and a bit shameful for failing to not only kill Ashlyn but for being so easily bested. Swinging around to his locker he opened it up to check that no one had been through it, a habit he had recently picked up. He remained silent for now.

Heyden took a slow drag from his cigarette as he admired the girls as they slowly walked out. The earthnoid grinned and greedily took another swig of the russian's vodka. "Live and die by the sword" Heyden leaned back in his chair placing the bottle of vodka on the table down with a thump.

"I just don't want to be one of the poor chumps who end up with a sword in their back..."

Trent had met his share of Jovians in his life, especially prior to joining the military, and without fail they always had an overwhelming aura of running on their own shifty agendas. The officer he saw upon drifting out of his shuttle was no exception. Trent returned the man’s salute and promptly paid him no further attention as he was escorted to meet with Paptimus Scirocco face-to-face.

- Alexandria-class Kirov -- Pilot Quarters -- Corridor -

Leandro wanted to say something to Grace, but Jason’s very apparent haste caught Delta’s CO off-guard and shook whatever he’d wanted to say out of his mind. Leandro remained silent on his gripper, seized with a very profound feeling that the machinations that plagued the Kirov had in some way touched Jason and Grace in ways he was very aware he didn’t understand.

“I see, uh, bye…” he trailed off, left with Aaron and the menacing Hepburn in the corridor.

- Pilot’s Lounge -

"Ain't it fun when you know you're gonna die young? It's such fun."

"Live and die by the sword. I just don't want to be one of the poor chumps who end up with a sword in their back…"

Stukov nodded, dipping his head low before bringing it back up.

“Neither one is soldier. This is perfect. I am not any more soldier. We are same kind of man, already too well knowing Death to be afraid of him.” He took the vodka for another turn at it. “I could not have better wingmen for what is left of future. Brothers, take another drink and swear you will not die until I allow.”

* * *

- Salamis Kai-class Herakles -- Captain’s Quarters -

“I figure you called for me for more than just a casual drink”

“Of course, Alex. And you probably suspected it has to do with the upcoming Gryps offensive that the man from Jupiter has arranged. You have so much riding on your shoulders, Alex. It’s unfortunate you had to be burdened with the responsibility of leading this ship’s mobile suit team at your age and experience level, only because the two older veterans are so utterly unfit for leadership. The problems inherent in Herakles Team’s composition were really quite evident in the reconnaissance blunder but given your circumstances it’s a feat in itself that the team hasn’t imploded in your hands.”

Berg settled back in his seat; he’d been putting the offered glass away while speaking the above. After a thoughtful sip from his own scotch, he continued. “The Gryps operation will be an entirely different mission, Alex. It will be an all-out offensive, and the future of the Titans rides entirely on our muscling through the AEUG at all costs. But while it will reverse our fortunes, it’s also a prime opportunity to weed out the less desirable elements in our organization in order to preserve that which is valuable.

“Ens. Gerwulf fights with the aggression and complete abandon that make him perfect for this kind of battle,” Berg apparently changed tack, “But he poses a problem for us in the long run, what with his… own problems. I’m sure the first trait could be used in a way that neatly solves the problem, yes?”

Aaron was really in a bind now. Jason had rushed into his quarters with Grace, leaving him alone with Hepburn and Leandro.

"Uh...." was all he managed to make in terms of an audible sound as he shifted his eyes back and forth between the two men. "I guess I'll just get lunch by myself..." he finally eked out hoping they'd buy it. He'd have to slip a letter under Jason's door or something later.

_________________"Kamille, if it wasn't for you...." Jerid's last words